exclusive_clark
By Dave Workman
In every field of endeavor, it’s always the little things that matter; little details, little parts or little accessories.
Maybe that’s why the Tap Cover from Clark Tactical Solutions got my attention. This little add-on might strike somebody as a “real nothing” because it is literally no more than a small square of high-grade polymer about the size of a 25-cent piece. But sit down for a minute and see what it does, and you just might hear yourself saying, “Hmmm. Wish I’d have thought of that.”
Jeff Clark beat us all to it. In a telephone conversation, he said the research and development of this snap-on accessory took more than two years. He wanted to get the design “just right” so that the Tap Cover could be snapped on and off, without having to use any adhesive. The Tap Cover is now patented, and Clark began marketing it last year.
“We tested the hell out of it,” he recalled.
The Tap Cover is designed to snap onto the dust cover of any mil-spec AR-15, AR-10, AR-308 or M16 and provide what amounts to an impact bumper. When the dust cover flips open and rotates downward, it naturally hits the receiver. Over time, this could result in cosmetic damage to the finish, and it might even cause a small dent in the cover itself.
Pop on one of these Tap Covers and the problem goes away. Polymer isn’t going to dent or mar a finish on an AR lower, even when propelled by the spring tension of the dust cover. There’s also an added benefit: Installing this little accessory reduces the little “smack” one hears when the dust cover flips open.
It’s molded precisely to fit right onto the center of a dust cover so it doesn’t pop off under recoil of the first shot. Clark Tactical says it has field-tested the Tap Cover extensively and it should last through years of service. There is no reason to doubt that, because polymer has “come a long way, baby” in the years since Dustin Hoffman’s Benjamin Braddock in The Graduate was given the one word piece of advice as a tip to insure his future: “Plastics.”
Look where polymer has taken the firearms industry. We’ve got polymer pistol frames, polymer rifle stocks and magazines. The stuff simply lasts, and it requires no maintenance. It seems impervious to cleaning fluids, and changes in the weather have no visible effect that I’ve ever seen.
For the shooter who owns an AR platform rifle or carbine, or several of them, I’d suggest getting a bunch of these Tap Covers and mount one on each of his semi-autos.
For more info: www.clarktacticalsolutions.com
Make sure you get Exclusive Articles every week. Click here to sign up now.
